Monday, June 18, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Chad Schapiro:Adversity
“Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.” — Lou Holtz
Success in life depends upon being strong people with clear goals and focused discipline. Unfortunately most of us aren’t born that way. We grow that way. And that growth can either come from us entering into situations that will cause us to grow, like creating a business, or from the way we react when circumstances come upon us that we have not chosen. The latter is what we call adversity.
Most of us spend our lives trying to avoid adversity, and who can blame us? We shouldn’t pursue adversity, but when it arrives, we should welcome it, through our interaction with it, will make us into better people. Every contact we have with adversity gives us again the opportunity to grow personally and professionally and to forge our character into one that will achieve much more later on.
With that in mind, here are some thoughts on adversity, and how it can help you to succeed in every area of your life and achieve your dreams.
Adversity brings out our resources. Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it. When everything is going well, we coast. There isn’t a lot of stress, and we don’t have to draw too much on the resources that reside within us. But when adversity comes we begin to draw upon each and every resource that we have in order to conquer the situations at hand. Adversity then, keeps us sharp. It keeps us using our personal muscle, if you will. That is a good thing because we grow through the use of our resources.
Adversity brings us together with others. Sure a team can have their problems with each other, but when they step on the court, when they experience the adversity of facing another obstacle, they pull together. One for all and all for one, as they say. The next time you experience adversity of some kind, keep your eyes open for how it can bring you together with your family, your mentors or your team. Then when you are through it, you will find a bond that was created that wasn’t there before.
Adversity makes us better people with stronger characters. Never underestimate the power of adversity to shape us inwardly. How will courage, discipline and perseverance ever flourish if we are never tested? After adversity, we come out stronger people and able then to use our character and influence in an even greater way to lead those around us and to improve their lives as well as our own.
Adversity makes life interesting. John Amatt said, “Without adversity, without change, life is boring.” How true. Have you noticed that while we are in the middle of adversity we only want to get out of it, but we then spend a lifetime talking about it to anyone who will listen? This is because it spices life up a little. Imagine how boring life would be if everything always went well, when there was never a mountain to be climbed.
Question - If you are in the middle of some adversity right now, what resources are you drawing on? Who are you drawing closer to and working with? What part of your character is being tested, and built up? What can you do to view this adversity as someone who will be better for it on the other side?
Remember the words of Napoleon Hill - “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” It is true!
Success in life depends upon being strong people with clear goals and focused discipline. Unfortunately most of us aren’t born that way. We grow that way. And that growth can either come from us entering into situations that will cause us to grow, like creating a business, or from the way we react when circumstances come upon us that we have not chosen. The latter is what we call adversity.
Most of us spend our lives trying to avoid adversity, and who can blame us? We shouldn’t pursue adversity, but when it arrives, we should welcome it, through our interaction with it, will make us into better people. Every contact we have with adversity gives us again the opportunity to grow personally and professionally and to forge our character into one that will achieve much more later on.
With that in mind, here are some thoughts on adversity, and how it can help you to succeed in every area of your life and achieve your dreams.
Adversity brings out our resources. Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it. When everything is going well, we coast. There isn’t a lot of stress, and we don’t have to draw too much on the resources that reside within us. But when adversity comes we begin to draw upon each and every resource that we have in order to conquer the situations at hand. Adversity then, keeps us sharp. It keeps us using our personal muscle, if you will. That is a good thing because we grow through the use of our resources.
Adversity brings us together with others. Sure a team can have their problems with each other, but when they step on the court, when they experience the adversity of facing another obstacle, they pull together. One for all and all for one, as they say. The next time you experience adversity of some kind, keep your eyes open for how it can bring you together with your family, your mentors or your team. Then when you are through it, you will find a bond that was created that wasn’t there before.
Adversity makes us better people with stronger characters. Never underestimate the power of adversity to shape us inwardly. How will courage, discipline and perseverance ever flourish if we are never tested? After adversity, we come out stronger people and able then to use our character and influence in an even greater way to lead those around us and to improve their lives as well as our own.
Adversity makes life interesting. John Amatt said, “Without adversity, without change, life is boring.” How true. Have you noticed that while we are in the middle of adversity we only want to get out of it, but we then spend a lifetime talking about it to anyone who will listen? This is because it spices life up a little. Imagine how boring life would be if everything always went well, when there was never a mountain to be climbed.
Question - If you are in the middle of some adversity right now, what resources are you drawing on? Who are you drawing closer to and working with? What part of your character is being tested, and built up? What can you do to view this adversity as someone who will be better for it on the other side?
Remember the words of Napoleon Hill - “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” It is true!
Chad Schapiro:All Industry's Recruit
This was a quick article I read about a college football program in Minnesota. Notice their attention to recruiting and what the writer attributes the success of the top football schools throughout history.
"This was an indication of what a great recruiting job Brewster and his staff have done to try to attract athletes to Minnesota since he was named the Gophers coach. Their motto is "24/7/365," meaning recruit 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and they have tried to do that.
And if they can recruit the outstanding athletes from outside Minnesota and win, it will make it easier to get the top kids in the state.
True, Brewster has never been a head coach or an offensive coordinator, and he has to prove that he can coach.
But I'm convinced he can recruit with the best. The reason Michigan and Ohio State win year after year is that they are able to recruit the best athletes."
Many times in Home Business we put an emphasis on other things but at the end of the day the best and most consistent recruiters have the best and most productive teams.
"This was an indication of what a great recruiting job Brewster and his staff have done to try to attract athletes to Minnesota since he was named the Gophers coach. Their motto is "24/7/365," meaning recruit 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and they have tried to do that.
And if they can recruit the outstanding athletes from outside Minnesota and win, it will make it easier to get the top kids in the state.
True, Brewster has never been a head coach or an offensive coordinator, and he has to prove that he can coach.
But I'm convinced he can recruit with the best. The reason Michigan and Ohio State win year after year is that they are able to recruit the best athletes."
Many times in Home Business we put an emphasis on other things but at the end of the day the best and most consistent recruiters have the best and most productive teams.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Chad Schapiro: Lead Yourself
There are two essential qualities of leadership. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric says that the "Reality Principle" is the most important of all. What this means is the practice of realism in all things.
The realist insists upon seeing the world as it really is, not as he wishes it were. This objectivity, this refusal to engage in self-delusion, is a mark of the true leader. Those who exhibit the quality of realism do not trust to luck, hope for miracles, pray for exceptions to basic business principles, expect rewards without working or hope that problems will go away by themselves. These all are examples of self-delusion, of living in a fantasyland.
The motivational leader insists on seeing things exactly as they are and encourages others to look at life the same way. As a motivational leader, you get the facts, whatever they are. You deal with people honestly and tell them exactly what you perceive to be the truth. This doesn't mean that you will always be right, but you will always be expressing the truth in the best way you know how.
The second key quality of motivational leadership is responsibility. This is perhaps the hardest of all to develop. The acceptance of responsibility means that, as Harry Truman said, "The buck stops here."
The game of life is very competitive. Sometimes, great success and great failure are separated by a very small distance. In watching the play-offs in basketball, baseball and football, we see that the winner can be decided by a single point, and that single point can rest on a single action, or inaction, on the part of a single team member at a critical part of the game.
Life is very much like competitive sports. Very small things that you do, or don't do, can either give you the edge that leads to victory or take away your edge at the critical moment. This principle is especially true with regard to accepting responsibility for yourself and for everything that happens to you.
Refuse to Make Excuses! The opposite of accepting responsibility is making excuses, blaming others and becoming upset, angry and resentful toward people for what they have done to you or not done for you.Any one of these three behaviors can trip you up and be enough to cost you the game: If you run into an obstacle or setback and you make excuses rather than accept responsibility, it's a five-yard penalty. It can cost you a first down. It can cost you a touchdown. It can make the difference between success and failure.If, when you face a problem or setback, and you both make excuses and blame someone else, you get a 10-yard penalty. In a tightly contested game, where the teams are just about even, a 10-yard penalty can cost you the game.If, instead of accepting responsibility when things go wrong, you make excuses, blame someone else and simultaneously become angry and resentful and blow up, you get a 15-yard penalty. This may cost you the championship and your career as well if it continues.
Lead Yourself, Be A Role Model. Personal leadership and motivational leadership are very much the same. To lead others, you must first lead yourself. To be an example or a role model for others, you must first become an excellent person yourself.
The realist insists upon seeing the world as it really is, not as he wishes it were. This objectivity, this refusal to engage in self-delusion, is a mark of the true leader. Those who exhibit the quality of realism do not trust to luck, hope for miracles, pray for exceptions to basic business principles, expect rewards without working or hope that problems will go away by themselves. These all are examples of self-delusion, of living in a fantasyland.
The motivational leader insists on seeing things exactly as they are and encourages others to look at life the same way. As a motivational leader, you get the facts, whatever they are. You deal with people honestly and tell them exactly what you perceive to be the truth. This doesn't mean that you will always be right, but you will always be expressing the truth in the best way you know how.
The second key quality of motivational leadership is responsibility. This is perhaps the hardest of all to develop. The acceptance of responsibility means that, as Harry Truman said, "The buck stops here."
The game of life is very competitive. Sometimes, great success and great failure are separated by a very small distance. In watching the play-offs in basketball, baseball and football, we see that the winner can be decided by a single point, and that single point can rest on a single action, or inaction, on the part of a single team member at a critical part of the game.
Life is very much like competitive sports. Very small things that you do, or don't do, can either give you the edge that leads to victory or take away your edge at the critical moment. This principle is especially true with regard to accepting responsibility for yourself and for everything that happens to you.
Refuse to Make Excuses! The opposite of accepting responsibility is making excuses, blaming others and becoming upset, angry and resentful toward people for what they have done to you or not done for you.Any one of these three behaviors can trip you up and be enough to cost you the game: If you run into an obstacle or setback and you make excuses rather than accept responsibility, it's a five-yard penalty. It can cost you a first down. It can cost you a touchdown. It can make the difference between success and failure.If, when you face a problem or setback, and you both make excuses and blame someone else, you get a 10-yard penalty. In a tightly contested game, where the teams are just about even, a 10-yard penalty can cost you the game.If, instead of accepting responsibility when things go wrong, you make excuses, blame someone else and simultaneously become angry and resentful and blow up, you get a 15-yard penalty. This may cost you the championship and your career as well if it continues.
Lead Yourself, Be A Role Model. Personal leadership and motivational leadership are very much the same. To lead others, you must first lead yourself. To be an example or a role model for others, you must first become an excellent person yourself.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Chad Schapiro: Develop Self-Confidence
In my opinion, there is nothing more important than your belief in your own potential for success and happiness, regardless of your age, gender, ethnicity, looks, education or background. The truth is, every day "You only sell you." You don't sell websites or a business concept. You sell the value of the person offering the websites and services. The decision of the buyer is based on the value of the seller. Just as products are described as "good", "expensive", "incredible", "worth-it" so, too, are individuals branded by others as "winners" or "losers."
Who you are shouts so loudly, that people either can't hear, don't want to hear, or listen carefully to what you are saying. Everybody loves a winner, and we all want to work with winners who pass their own value on to us.
Self-confidence isn't something you were born with. It's something you develop. Many of us were cultivated like weeds as children. We played inferior roles to the adults around us, who frequently reminded us of our faults and shortcomings more than our successes and abilities.If you had that type of childhood, as I did, you face a special challenge in building up your self-confidence as an adult. Here are some basic points to remember about yourself:
1. Realize that the most important opinion about you is the one that you hold. Long-term, nobody else is responsible for your life but you. Nobody else is accountable for your actions but you. Therefore, nobody’s opinion about you is more important than yours.
2. Don't demand perfection of yourself. An A is usually awarded to the person who scores 90 percent or better, and sometimes the score doesn't need to be that high. Professional basketball players only make half their shots. Professional quarterback complete only half their passes, and professional baseball players reach first base less than 40 percent of the time, and that includes walks. And we all know what our averages are in picking stocks to invest in that are always going up. That would be never! Give your best effort every day and keep going forward. Perfection is not only totally unrealistic to expect and virtually impossible to achieve, but it greatly takes you away from your ability to move forward. The person who is constantly looking over his or her shoulder at what might have been done better, can't possibly be focused on the future. Drive with your eyes ahead; don't drive by concentrating on the rearview mirror.
3. Develop a strong system of values. Take those values like striving for freedom, being the best you can be, persistence, showing love, serving others, or whatever and feed those values. Learn about them, immerse yourself in them so they grow and choke out the weeds around you. Your values will greatly affect how you relate to others. The stronger your values are, the greater the impact. If you are lacking in values, you will tend to draw from and even use other people to try to mimic their behaviors, if only superficially. Instead, seek to become a model, one who can help and give strength to others.
4. Don't reinforce your failures. Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street. Failure is a temporary setback, not a residence. Failure is a learning experience, not a person. Like success, failure is a growth process, not a status. Don't wallow in your mistakes. Correct them and move forward. Failure is necessary to move forward like bending a knee to step up higher. Congrats for your recent failures!!
5. Recognize that the most important conversations are the ones you have with yourself. Whether or not you are aware of it, you have a running conversation with yourself from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep. Your thoughts and ideas are "you talking to you." Have daily conversations with yourself that are supportive and reinforcing. We know the value of talking to people who praise us, reward us, recognize us, are happy to see us, and let us know they genuinely enjoy talking with us. Talk to yourself with those same qualities – silently as well as out loud.
6. Give each job or task your best effort. Countless individuals say, when confronted with a chore, "I'm too good to be doing this." They have negativity for their current lifestyle and the work that must be done, and get discouraged easily. Success is an accumulation of what you do in the minutes of each day. No task is too unworthy to do well. There are no small parts – only small actors.
7. To develop confidence, you must see yourself ultimately as a unique part of creation. You must recognize, with pleasure, that nobody else is just like you. No one else has exactly your personality, history or experiences. No one else has your footprints, your finger prints, your voice print or your genetic code. No one else has precisely your set of talents, capabilities and skills. You are one of a kind. The value is there. It just needs to be dusted off and polished.
Who you are shouts so loudly, that people either can't hear, don't want to hear, or listen carefully to what you are saying. Everybody loves a winner, and we all want to work with winners who pass their own value on to us.
Self-confidence isn't something you were born with. It's something you develop. Many of us were cultivated like weeds as children. We played inferior roles to the adults around us, who frequently reminded us of our faults and shortcomings more than our successes and abilities.If you had that type of childhood, as I did, you face a special challenge in building up your self-confidence as an adult. Here are some basic points to remember about yourself:
1. Realize that the most important opinion about you is the one that you hold. Long-term, nobody else is responsible for your life but you. Nobody else is accountable for your actions but you. Therefore, nobody’s opinion about you is more important than yours.
2. Don't demand perfection of yourself. An A is usually awarded to the person who scores 90 percent or better, and sometimes the score doesn't need to be that high. Professional basketball players only make half their shots. Professional quarterback complete only half their passes, and professional baseball players reach first base less than 40 percent of the time, and that includes walks. And we all know what our averages are in picking stocks to invest in that are always going up. That would be never! Give your best effort every day and keep going forward. Perfection is not only totally unrealistic to expect and virtually impossible to achieve, but it greatly takes you away from your ability to move forward. The person who is constantly looking over his or her shoulder at what might have been done better, can't possibly be focused on the future. Drive with your eyes ahead; don't drive by concentrating on the rearview mirror.
3. Develop a strong system of values. Take those values like striving for freedom, being the best you can be, persistence, showing love, serving others, or whatever and feed those values. Learn about them, immerse yourself in them so they grow and choke out the weeds around you. Your values will greatly affect how you relate to others. The stronger your values are, the greater the impact. If you are lacking in values, you will tend to draw from and even use other people to try to mimic their behaviors, if only superficially. Instead, seek to become a model, one who can help and give strength to others.
4. Don't reinforce your failures. Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street. Failure is a temporary setback, not a residence. Failure is a learning experience, not a person. Like success, failure is a growth process, not a status. Don't wallow in your mistakes. Correct them and move forward. Failure is necessary to move forward like bending a knee to step up higher. Congrats for your recent failures!!
5. Recognize that the most important conversations are the ones you have with yourself. Whether or not you are aware of it, you have a running conversation with yourself from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep. Your thoughts and ideas are "you talking to you." Have daily conversations with yourself that are supportive and reinforcing. We know the value of talking to people who praise us, reward us, recognize us, are happy to see us, and let us know they genuinely enjoy talking with us. Talk to yourself with those same qualities – silently as well as out loud.
6. Give each job or task your best effort. Countless individuals say, when confronted with a chore, "I'm too good to be doing this." They have negativity for their current lifestyle and the work that must be done, and get discouraged easily. Success is an accumulation of what you do in the minutes of each day. No task is too unworthy to do well. There are no small parts – only small actors.
7. To develop confidence, you must see yourself ultimately as a unique part of creation. You must recognize, with pleasure, that nobody else is just like you. No one else has exactly your personality, history or experiences. No one else has your footprints, your finger prints, your voice print or your genetic code. No one else has precisely your set of talents, capabilities and skills. You are one of a kind. The value is there. It just needs to be dusted off and polished.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Chad Schapiro: Keep On Keeping On
We all want to improve our results in many different areas from where we are currently. Be gentle with yourself. It has taken you your whole life to become the person you are today. If you are like everyone else, you are not perfect. You have lots of room to grow and improve. There are many changes that you can and will make in your character and personality in the course of becoming the excellent human being that you aspire to. But change in your personality will not come easily, and it won't come overnight. You must be patient. If you are not patient then you are going to get frustrated and it won't be as enjoyable a process.
Make a decision to stick with it no matter what. Once that commitment is firmly in place there will be less second guessing yourself and taking the easy way out by looking for the back door. The reason that people grow and become better and better over the course of time, is because they persist gently in the direction of their goals and dreams. They don't expect overnight transformations. When they don't see results immediately, they don't get discouraged. They just keep on keeping on. And you must do the same.
Make a decision to stick with it no matter what. Once that commitment is firmly in place there will be less second guessing yourself and taking the easy way out by looking for the back door. The reason that people grow and become better and better over the course of time, is because they persist gently in the direction of their goals and dreams. They don't expect overnight transformations. When they don't see results immediately, they don't get discouraged. They just keep on keeping on. And you must do the same.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Chad Schapiro: Koi Pond
I have a beautiful Koi pond out back that is stocked with incredible Koi and turtles. Often the Texas heat will be so powerful that the algae takes over and the water goes from clear to looking like a thick pea green soup. The importance of having a filter in place and running effectively to keep the clean water moving forward and not stagnant while it picks up and filters the excess algae is the key to keeping it beautiful and a joy to see. The pond itself didn't change, just the clearness of the water.
When leaders invest in and take care of themselves they are much more able to create clearness and an attractive environment from which they lead. Conversely, if you neglect yourself, you are more likely to have murkiness in your relationships and the results can dramatically be affected. You can save money and skip the trainings, not invest in the tools, not focus on your own growth just like it would be cheaper to not have to buy some fancy waterfall and filter feature.
You may be the same person, but how you are perceived and how effective you become can be hindered. We all have the opportunity to create both positive and negative experiences for ourselves and those around us. As leaders, let's realize that investing in ourselves needs to be at the top of our priority list. For people to be able to enjoy you and be brought forward you have to keep moving, don't get stagnant, and clear the negatives out. You are a beautiful vision that the world will enjoy seeing.
When leaders invest in and take care of themselves they are much more able to create clearness and an attractive environment from which they lead. Conversely, if you neglect yourself, you are more likely to have murkiness in your relationships and the results can dramatically be affected. You can save money and skip the trainings, not invest in the tools, not focus on your own growth just like it would be cheaper to not have to buy some fancy waterfall and filter feature.
You may be the same person, but how you are perceived and how effective you become can be hindered. We all have the opportunity to create both positive and negative experiences for ourselves and those around us. As leaders, let's realize that investing in ourselves needs to be at the top of our priority list. For people to be able to enjoy you and be brought forward you have to keep moving, don't get stagnant, and clear the negatives out. You are a beautiful vision that the world will enjoy seeing.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Chad Schapiro: Positive Attitude
It is not what happens to you that counts. It is how you react to what happens to you, especially when you have unexpected problems of any kind.
Here are four things you can do to assure that your attitude is the very best it can be, under all circumstances.
Focus On the Future
First, whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future, and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that direction. Get your mind, your thoughts, and your mental images on the future.
Think About the Solution
Second, whenever you're faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting time rehashing and reflecting on the problem. Solutions are naturally positive, whereas problems are naturally negative. The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you become a positive and constructive person.
Look For the Good
Third, assume that something good is hidden within each difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major supporter of positive thinking, once said, "Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem." The bigger the gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive. But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you will always find it.
Seek the Valuable Lesson
Fourth, assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand and grow.
Decide to Be Positive
A Positive Mental Attitude is necessity to your success. You can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply think about the future, focus on the solution and look for the good. If you do what other successful people do, if you use your mind to exert mental control over the situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time. And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people.
Here are four things you can do to assure that your attitude is the very best it can be, under all circumstances.
Focus On the Future
First, whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future, and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that direction. Get your mind, your thoughts, and your mental images on the future.
Think About the Solution
Second, whenever you're faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting time rehashing and reflecting on the problem. Solutions are naturally positive, whereas problems are naturally negative. The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you become a positive and constructive person.
Look For the Good
Third, assume that something good is hidden within each difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major supporter of positive thinking, once said, "Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem." The bigger the gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive. But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you will always find it.
Seek the Valuable Lesson
Fourth, assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand and grow.
Decide to Be Positive
A Positive Mental Attitude is necessity to your success. You can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply think about the future, focus on the solution and look for the good. If you do what other successful people do, if you use your mind to exert mental control over the situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time. And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people.
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